A friend of Jarred Pope (Drummer for Crosby & MFC) is the band leader over at Bakersfield High School, and he decided to work up a little Mother Funk Conspiracy into the program. In this video, around 6 minutes, the band breaks into 'Hammbone Steaksauce' from our last album. What a treat!
Also, here's an mp3 from the Sabroso sessions earlier this month (with an intro on the upright):
Lo Que Va A Pasar.mp3
Enjoy!
I couldn't help it. I saw this picture of Al Gore's home office on Boingboing and I thought, 'What does Bush's office look like?'. Oddly enough, that was the only picture I could find of him working, so I used it.
Here's a song I wrote and recorded yesterday on a $30 piece of junk guitar. I kind of like the tone though.
I was supposed to be laying bass tracks on some new Crosby material, but I ended up screwing off all day.
The Rain Forest.mp3
He is done with his work shift at the music store. It was a long 8 hour day for him. Still kicking a bit of a cold, he's standing fairly strong. On the back of his mind is the fact that he gets out of work at 6 pm and his gig starts at 6:30 pm. That gig is done around 9:00 pm and his next jazz gig starts at 9:30 and lasts until 12 am. 'It's going to be a long day' he thinks. Little does he know how long it will be.
He arrives at his rehearsal space to load his equipment into his car. He pops his trunk, steps out of his vehicle, and then it hits him.
"I don't have my studio keys!"
He panics and looks around his car, which is a total disaster already. Even if they are in there he probably wouldn't find them.
He bolts over to the drum shop and sees a drummer that has another room in the same building, attempting somehow to get into his own room but failing. The clock is ticking at this point and he's freaking out and makes a few phone calls. He tracks down a set of keys from another musician he shares the room with and drives across town to get them.
By the time he shows up at the gig it's 6:45. In a mad dash to get setup and park, the band doesn't start until 7.
Fortunately, he doesn't crumble under the pressure of the day, and the band kicks ass. The crowd goes nuts and the Salsa band plays effortlessly. Good times had by all.
Unfortunately, due to the late start time, he doesn't make it to the Jazz Club (only two blocks away!) until 9:20 pm.
That band starts around 9:45 and plays until 12:15 am after one break.
And as usual, Grappolos is filled with gorgeous ladies dancing to our latin jazz all night long, which helps the night fly past him rather quickly.
He walks into his house around 1 am and instantly falls to sleep, sleeping deeper than he's slept in months.
This was sent to me by a friend from out of town. Its very nice, and very re-assuring. It makes me realize that the bass part is important in music.
"I really enjoy watching you play. I have other friends who enjoy watching you play also. It isn't really about the flourishes. Sometimes you will add a flourish and it isn't that I think that is better, it could be that I was floating into la la land and something out of the ordinary brought me back onto the same road as the music. That isn't about the music. It could have been a word or someone behind me started talking and I lost my focus.
Sometimes I am not listening closely, I am watching the interaction of the band with each other. I am feeling the energy you are sharing with us, your audience and I am reacting to that.
And sometimes I am hearing every chord it seems, feeling every vibration and can't be pulled out no matter how hard anyone tries.
I don't really know what other people are doing. "
I felt I should share it, as it is very inspirational. I wish every listener was like this!
From Dan's hand held video camera:
Pretty nerve wracking. And silly too.
And tell me Howard (The M.C.) isn't a huge tool in this clip. What's up with his mike skills?
The Playbacks were ridiculous last night. Who'd have thought that A Tuesday night would go off. There's a new sound system at Downtown Brew, and it sounded phenomenal. Sam sang his neck off, he hit all the high notes in our notorious cover of 'Sir Duke'! (He sometimes can't hit em...) We played two freakin encores! On a Tuesday Night!
April, my birthday month, has almost always been good to me. This month had some great gigs, notably the San Diego show with Crosby. Also, I did a recording session with the salsa band, Sabroso, entirely on the Upright bass,
I played with some great new musicians, honed my chops with lessons from Jedi-Master Ken Hustead, got some, learned some. Great month.
There were more than 12 gigs this last month. I'm looking to top that in may, I've got 5 gigs this week alone.
And just recently, I won third place in the Drum Competition. That was a hoot. I felt pretty nervous, It's weird having the entire place stare at you for 3 minutes. I'm used to that sort of thing on stage playing bass, but it was different somehow.
There was definitely some grumbling amongst drummers. Howard, the new owner of the Drum Circuit, told everyone that I was really a bass player, and when I got third, some drummers were a bit peeved. It was all in good fun for me.
Video of Drum Competition coming soon....
